


Fluff and Stuff: ATLA Edition

by RelilaRamblr



Series: Flufftober 2020 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26765446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelilaRamblr/pseuds/RelilaRamblr
Summary: The Flufftober prompts I choose to use Avatar: The Last Airbender for. I'll put which days and prompts in the summary as I put them up.Day Two, ComfortDay Eleven, RadianceDay 17, YoursDay 23, Childhood bedroomDay 30, "You had to be there"
Relationships: Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Series: Flufftober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946599
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Sokka loved his sister, and he was proud of her. He wouldn’t change anything about her. He was the problem. He and his inability to just say right. He knew he was smart, his time with the mechanist proved that. He was a capable fighter, his time with Master Piandao proved that. He was a good planner and strategist, the day of the black sun and boiling rock prison break proved that. He was a good appealing partner, or at least according to Yue, Suki, Kaya, and that weird bendy girl who hung out with Zuko’s evil sister. Zuko had told him her name before, was it Ty Lee?

The point was he knew he was a good guy, so why did he feel so crappy. He knew he was important to the team, that’s why they’d made time for him to study under Master Piandao, so he could feel better about himself. He sighed and pushed his knees away from his chest. He was being stupid. He was about to push himself off the ground when he heard light footsteps. Zuko poked his head into the room. He caught Sokka’s eye and shuffled his feet. “Can I come in?”

Sokka nodded, unsure what his newest friend was thinking. The prince joined him on the floor, hands clasp. “Everything okay?”

“Uhh, yeah I’m good. What about you?”

“Me?” Sokka asked

“Yes. I- I’m not the best with people, but you seemed upset earlier.”

Sokka stiffen, had it been so obvious? “Oh, no I’m fine. I was- was just wondering where Momo had gotten to.”

Zuko turned to look him in the eyes, and Sokka gulped. He knew the firebender had no plans to harm any of them, but he could be a bit unsettling when he wanted to. “I guess that makes sense. Did you find him?”

Sokka shook his head.

“Want me to help you find him? He’s better at this…” he trailed off.

“Better at what?” Sokka asked, feeling his interest start to rise.

Zuko looked away, cheeks turning pink. “Comforting people. But that’s not hard. At least when the other option is me.” 

Sokka blinked, and then his brain finished processing the words. He still thinks I’m upset and that I just don’t want his comfort, but Momo’s

“I’m sure you’re fine at comforting people. I mean you noticed me, not that I really need comfort.” He added. “I’m sure I’m just overthinking things.”

Zuko’s cheeks flushed darker, and he muttered a soft “Thanks” he glanced at the darker-skinned man, and said in a louder voice, “Care to share? Uncle always said it was a good idea to talk about your thoughts. That having a second opinion helped.”

“I guess.” The water tribe boy shifted to a comfier position, facing his friend. “I just feel like I’m less than the others. It’s dumb because I know I’m not, I had this whole side adventure thing to prove it to myself when I was feeling like this before, so it’s extra stupid.” He focused on the wall over Zuko’s shoulder.

Zuko tilted his head, lose hair covering his face. “You're right about not being less, but not so much about it being dumb. You feel how you feel and if it isn’t a good feeling then it’s a sign that something’s wrong.” He straightened his shoulders and pulled his head back up. “And it might feel like that something is you, I don’t think it is. Not in this case.”

Sokka gaped at him, shocked by the passion that the other was suddenly filled with.

“I’ve been in both places before. Where I needed to change, and where someone else did. And you haven’t done anything wrong,” He wavered for a second, “but neither has your family. Or at least I don’t think so.”

That jarred Sokka out of his stupor. “No, they haven’t its all on me. Or my dumb insecurities. I never had to go through what you did.”

Zuko nodded, relief crossing his face. “That’s good. Really good. But you didn’t ask to be insecure so it’s not your fault.”

“Yeah. Sometimes life just sucks. Especially during war.”

Zuko nodded again, “Definitely. It sucks, even if you’re not on the field fighting. So many people you had before are just gone, and you don’t know if they're ever coming back.”

“And it’s up to you to keep things going smoothly” Sokka added. “You have no idea how, but you can’t ask for help because that looks weak. And then who you think you have it down, no one listens. It feels like your trying to run up a hill of melting snow”

“It feels like you're trying to run up a hill of shifting sand,” Zuko said at the same time. They looked at each other and Sokka let out a bark of laughter, while Zuko gave a little grin.

Sokka pushed himself upward and offered a hand to Zuko. “Let’s spar. I want to do something that feels like progress.”

Zuko took his hand dropping it once he was on his feet. “Couldn’t agree more.”

Leading the way Sokka felt something in his chest loosen. The doubts were still there, but they seemed lighter. And if they got heavy again, Sokka felt like perhaps his friend would be up for listening. It was nice, he realized, having someone who got it. Someone who understood and would listen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (uhhh, a day late, sorry.)

Toph had grown up being told she was three things. She was a Beifong. She was fragile. She was radiant. She hated it. Being a Beifong meant she was well behaved and proper. Being fragile meant letting everyone else do everything for her. Being radiant meant there was there was a stuck-up guest or boot kissing servant in the house who wanted to compliment her but didn’t want to imply her parents were wrong about how weak their daughter was. It meant wearing fancy, movement restriction clothes, and uncomfortable shoes.

Toph was not any of those things. She was not the ideal heir, not a delicate flower, and not something pretty to be admired from behind the walls of a glass cage. She was the master earthbender who taught the Avatar, the inventor of metal bending, the Blind Bandit, and The Runaway. And she was never going to give anyone a reason to think otherwise ever again.

“Toph that was amazing!” Duke cheered. 

“Radiant even,” Teo added. “Like a spirit!” But Toph had stopped listening. Her mind with flooded with long dresses stiffen to the point they hardly moved so the fabric couldn’t trip her, and tight updos and shoes, horrible shoes cutting her off from the vibrations and she couldn’t do anything and she looks radiant, you've done a great job taking care of her - 

She sucked in a breath. Logically she knew she wasn’t back there. She was at the western air temple, in the fire nation, far from her parents. That didn’t matter. She stomped her foot and flung the chunk of rock that rose from the floor towards the two boys and fled. 

She was so distracted trying to keep other memories back she hardly pied attention to where she was going. She ended up near what she guessed was the flying bison obstacle course. There were lots of tall poles and hoops, so she was pretty sure that’s what it was. She sat, back against the wall, feet firmly on the ground, trying to take deep breaths. 

There was no reason to freak out. It was just a word. It couldn’t do anything to her. But still, it made her so angry that even now she couldn’t escape the word. She sat there for a while, trying to force herself to get over it. She stiffened when she heard and felt footsteps. 

They were Aang’s, but heavier than normal. He wanted her to know he was coming. That or he too was in a foul mood and trying to hide. She kept her unseeing eyes ahead of her and felt the air around her start to shift. In her mind, she got the impression of most of Aang’s weight lifting off the ground. He was probably sitting on an airball or something, with just his toes brushing the ground. 

“What?” She snapped after several moments of silence.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay, but I didn’t want to get a rock chucked at my head.” 

She snorted. 

“Ah, why did you throw it?”

“They said something, and it ticked me off.” 

“They were complimenting you?” 

“Radiant is not a compliment!” She snapped, slamming her fist into the ground. “It’s weak.”

“How,” Aang asked slowly, “is being compared to a spirit, the most powerful things in the world, weak?”

Toph froze, “What?” She couldn’t see his face, but it sounded like he was frowning. He let his air ball dissipate and landed feet first on the ground. 

“Teo, he said you were radiant, like one of the spirits. You haven’t had to deal with as many as me when he first started, but they’re powerful.” 

Toph blushed slightly. “I didn’t hear that part. I- I guess I got lost in my head.”

“Why?”

She huffed and pushed herself up. “None of your business.” She hesitated, “But you won’t drop it until you know, will you?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Radiant was one of my parents’ way to hear me described. Along with fragile and proper.” She started to walk away, not letting him reply. “Tell anyone and I’ll squash you.” 

Aang jogged to catch up and started to talk, but Toph was only half listening. Radiant like a spirit, the most powerful beings there were. Well that she could happily accept. 


	3. Chapter 3

Katara loved her brother. They hadn’t always gotten along at times, but she could always depend on him and he would never wish harm on her. She hadn’t realized had lucky she was to have a sibling who cared about her and let her care for him until she’d seen the wreck that was Zuko and Azula’s relationship. She loved her brilliant, wacky older brother

She remaindered herself of this as she watched as him debate with a young blacksmith apprentice how different types of metal, specifically how they froze and what it was like to get your tongue frozen onto one. “Well, it’s harder to prove here, but….” 

She sighed and turned away. Suki stood beside her, hand over mouth. She seemed torn between laughter and horror. Katara shook her head and rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to help with the wounded. Please make sure he doesn’t do anything dumb.” She started to walk away as Sokka reached for a piece of metal and flipped it with his figure. 

“Wait!” Suki called, catching up with the waterbender. “I thought you’d gotten all of them in this town. That today was going to be a day off.”

Katara blushed slightly. “I did.” 

“Oh, that’s good,” Suki’s shoulder relaxed. “I was worried something bad had happened, or that we had missed something.”

“No, nothing happened. But I figured that it was better than watching that.” The blue-clad girl waved behind them towards the boy.

“Make sense. But” Suki hesitated, “well shouldn’t you stay to help if something goes wrong? I love Sokka but he’s too determined to prove he’s right, and he won’t stop until he does. Someone has to keep an eye on him” 

“Yes, but I’m his little sister. Outside of the war effort, he isn’t going to listen to me.” She felt a little bad for saying it, as Sokka probably would have, and to say otherwise felt like slander. He’d come so far from where they’d started, they all had. She amended her statement. “I mean he might, but he wouldn’t like it. You’re his girlfriend. It might be easier for you.”

“He’s your brother.” Suki protested. “That means more, you know that. You take care of each other.”

“Yes, but he’s your boyfriend. That means you take care of each other too.” The darker skin girl protested. “You picked that when you started to date him.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to babysit him. That’s not a good relationship.” Suki folded her arms before letting out a small ‘oh’. “You don’t want to have to babysit him either.” 

Katara blushed again but nodded. “I love him but he’s a grown man. It gets tiring to have to watch out for him. I know I’m not giving him enough credit.” She added.

“Neither of us is,” Suki admitted. “He’s a great guy, I’m just so used to having to be on guard about everything. 

“Yeah.” They lapsed into silence. Karate shook her head and straightened. “So let’s give him a chance. We can both go do whatever, and he can debate done things with other boys. I don’t think anything life-threatening is going to happen and he deserves a chance to be without feeling like he’s got to act a certain way.” 

Suki thought about it and nodded. “Sounds like a good plan. I wanted to try a spa day. We don’t have them back home, and there hasn’t exactly been the time before now.” 

Katara grinned, thinking about how her last spa day had gone. “Can I tag along? It can be a girls’ day. I haven’t had one in forever.” 

“Sure!” The pair headed off together and Suki bumped Katara’s arm. “Fair warning though, if he manages to somehow freeze his tongue to anything, I’m blaming you.” 

“What, so he doesn’t have to yours to unstick?” Katara questioned.

“Well, that too. I was going for more of you deal more with ice than I do so you’d do less damage. After that, I’d spirit him away and he’d be just mine for a while.”

“Eww. Suki!” 

The Kyoshi Warrior blushed. “Not like that!” 

Katara laughed, and Suki joined in.


	4. Chapter 4

Zuko was standing outside of Toph’s room. He had been for several minutes. Toph huffed and debated just opening the door for him. The reading she’d gotten seemed to be facing the door, so she was pretty sure he’d come to talk to her. She decided to do it. Even if he hadn’t come to talk to her, she didn’t want him sulking outside her room. She pulled the door open, at the same moment Zuko tried to knock on it. “What you want Sparky?”

“Uh, hey Toph. I was wondering if you wanted to- well can I come in first?” He lowered his voice. “I’d rather not be overheard.”

“Okaaaay.” She drew the word out, but stepped aside and let him in. Closing the door, she felt his weight shift from foot to foot. It was so slight she hardly sensed it. “You planning something bad? Cause you’re acting super shifty.” She crossed her arms.

“I want to run away.” He blurted out. “No! I mean I want a break. And I’m going to run away to take one. I know it’s wrong but-” he cut himself off as the girl raised a hand.

“Your suffocating here, so you need a break. I get it.”

“How did you know? Is it super obvious?” He sounded a little worried.

Toph rolled unseeing eyes. “To anyone else, no. But your heart has been racing a lot more than normal, and you’re so tense these days, your muscles are partially sending out their own vibrations from the strain.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good. I guess.” He started pacing. “But yeah. I want a break, and I think now would be the best time. I feel kinda bad, because I’ve been doing this for a year, and that makes me worry about doing it longterm, but my brain is so fried I can’t think about anything else.”

“So you run away for a short break. Why do I need to know this?”

“I wanted to see if you wanted to come with me.” his face warmed. “I thought you might, just based on some stuff you said while we were looking for Aang.”

Toph blinked, then grinned. “Ohh, I see. Sure, I’ll come. But it doesn’t as out life-changing field trip, got it?”

“Um, got it.” The Firelord didn’t sound too sure, but Toph ignored it.

“Where are we going?”

* * *

“So, not that I have a problem with this place, but does it really count as running away? I mean it’s not super far away. And you own it.” Toph frowned from her place atop the stairs of the Firelord’s beach house.

“I know,” Zuko admitted. “but if something goes wrong while I'm gone I need to be able to get back quickly. And I’d rather not run into anyone who wants me dead or for ransom.”

“Fair enough.” Toph conceded. “Are we staying in the same rooms as before?”

“I guess.” Zuko shrugged. “I mean it’s just us two, so you can take your pick.”

“I kinda want the locked one. It’s one of the few that don’t open. I want to know what’s in it.” Toph said gesturing to a door that they hadn’t unlocked on their previous stay. The lock was pretty simple, and she’d considered bending it out of its place multiple times before. Zuko’s racing heart each time it was mentioned stayed her though. She sighed as the boy’s heart started to gallop. “Okay Sparky, spill. This obviously upsets you.”

“It’s just-” Zuko took a deep breath. “That was my room, from before. I couldn’t lock my room back in the palace. So I would always lock this one when we left, to keep it safe.”

“Oh.” Toph took a second to process this. “Okay. That’s cool. You could have just said that before. I get needing a place that’s yours.” She shifted her bag and started to her old room. “I can just use the old one.” Zuko let out a breath and relaxed. After Toph was in her room, settling her stuff, he moved to the locked door. Taking a deep breath, he broke it down.

And immediately gagged.

The air in the room was old and musty. He took a large step back, coughing. He hadn’t thought that through very well. He slid down the wall and rested his head against it. He needed to go through the room, it was a part of why he’d picked to come here, but he could let it air out a bit first. 

Toph joined him on the floor, legs out in front of her. They stayed like that for several minutes. Then Toph broke the silence. “Okay, so here’s the plan. I’m going to help you go through your old room, and it’ll count as your life-changing field trip with me, but you still need to take me on mine.”

Zuko turned to her, mouth hanging open. “What if I don’t want to go through it? What if I just want to terrorize the beachgoers with chaos?”

Toph snorted, “You want to go through the room. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so touchy about others being in it, and then open it when you're alone.”

Zuko blushed and protested, “But I do want to scare the beachgoers. I thought you’d be the most willing to help, which is another reason I invited you.”

Toph’s eyes widen, as she sensed that he was telling the truth. She frowned and ordered, “Tell a lie.”

“What?”

“Just do it!”

“The sky is green? Um, the house is in great condition. I’m not the blue spirit.” He started to ramble.

“That’s good.” The Eathbender said, stopping him. “Sorry I just needed to check that you didn’t learn to lie recently” She grinned. “So, you want to cause some chaos? Well, you picked the right person to bring along. We can do the mushy stuff later, let’s go!” She sprung to her feet and dragged Zuko up with her.


	5. Chapter 5

“Okay, everyone understand the plan?” Sokka asked, voice low. Katara and Suki shared a look but nodded along with the others. “Okay great. Break.” He removed his arms from Suki’s and Aang’s shoulders, stepping away from the tightly made circle.

“Still not sure this will work though,” Katara said, pulling away from Aang and Toph. “I mean it seems kind of convoluted.”

Sokka sighed but before he could explain the plan again Zuko cut in. “If we do it well, it will. We don’t want to risk being seen as immature or lax by relaxing like we normally do at these, and while team fights usually show how good we are at working together we can’t be seen as violent. So being on the same brainwave is our best bet.”

“Quite,” Toph hissed, “They’re coming.” Everyone hurried to their places at the table. Aang and Zuko at the head, with Katara on Aangs right and Sokka on Zuko’s. Suki sat next to her boyfriend, and Toph across from her. They all sat with stiff backs, waiting with bated breath. Soon they heard the footsteps Toph had felt. The doors to the room were flung open and the embassies walk in.

They were a weathered-looking group, and two of them carried concealed weapons. A knife each it looked like. Shouldn’t the guards have taken those? Suki looked at Katara and Zuko raising an eyebrow, only the Firelord responded with a small passive shrug. Aang makes a don’t do anything yet motion with hand and Zuko didn’t counter it, so the warrior decided that despite the weapons they weren’t threats. She was still on guard though.

“Welcome.” Aang stood, “I hope your trip was pleasant.”

“As pleasant as a trip through the Fire Nation can be.” One of the guests sneered.

“We’re glad to hear that,” Sokka said. “You didn’t stop by Ember Island did you?”

“Um, no.” the leader seemed caught off guard by the question.

“Oh well, I recommend you visit before leaving. It’s got lovely beaches, doesn’t it Toph?”

“Meh, they’re alright. But I, Toph Beifong, fully support the Ember Island Players.” The others groaned, and Zuko held a hand.

“We are not opening that can of worms right now. Please sit. We have much to discuss. As I understand it, you’re upset about the Harmony Restoration Movement ending?”

“Yes.” The leader sat and slowly the others did as well. “I understand that King Kuei has made his opinion on it made but we disagree.”

* * *

The meeting lasted four hours with one break in the middle. The knifes hadn’t been drawn, which almost made up for the run time. Toph let out a breath as she slumped in her seat. “That was so long.” She complained.

“Yeah.” Sokka looked drained. “I’ll admit when I shrugged the ‘you had to be there’ plan I wasn’t thinking about how long the meeting would go when we were sprinkling hints about all of our wacky adventures in there. 

“I don’t think any of us were.” Zuko stretched, groaning. “Also, what was that bit about a library? And a giant owl?”

“Oh ya’ know. Just something you had to be there for.” Katara grinned.

“I hate all of you.” Zuko deadpanned. Just for that, I’m not telling you about the time I saved Aang from Zhao as the blue spirit.”

“Wait, what?” Toph sat up straight. “I want to know about that.”

“I beginning to think you all need to write a book about everything you went through,” Suki muttered. “That’d take care of the whole ‘had to be there’ thing.”

“That’s a great idea, Suki!”


End file.
